Pipe-cleaning means



April 12. 1927.

H. M. MURPHY PIPE CLEANING M BANS Filed June 25,- 1,925

IN VEN TOR.

UNITED STATES P] Patented Apr. 123,1927.

HOWARD M. MURPHY, or PHILADELPHIA, rENusYLvANIL: 1 a

PIPE-CLEANING, MEANS.

. Application filed June 25,1926. Serial No.1 118,530.

tion being: supplemented by the accompanying drawing.

Figure 1 1s a side elevation of a rod which is used in the formation andoperation of a swab for cleaning a pipe stem. 3

-F1gures 2 and 3 are fragmentary side elevations on an enlarged scaleand Fig. 4-

is a detail'section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2, showing the construction atthe front end of the rod.

Figure 5 is an elevation partly in section showing a paper strip engagedwith a split in the'rod, preparatory to winding around said rod to forma stem cleaner.

Figure 6 is a detail elevation illustrating the manner of engaging thepaper'strip with the split ofthe rod. 3

Figure 7 is a perspective view showing the manner of winding the paperstrip around the rod to provide the cleaner.

the preferred way of, forming the paper strips; y

In the drawing above briefly described, 10 designates a straight rod ofany desired length, preferably formed of m'etal and having a roughenedoperating head 11 at its rear end. In thefront end of this rod, a

split or kerf 12 is formed, providing two parallel fingers 13 and 14.The front extremity15 of the finger 13 is at right angles to the lengthof the rod 10, while the front extremity 16 of the finger 14 is beveledto- Wvard said finger 13, the bevel being disposed in such a plane as toleave a triangular portion 17 at the inner side of thefinger 13,

laterally exposed, as seen most clearly in.

Fig. 3. I x I For use, one at a time, with the rod 10, provide aplurality of cleaning strips 18, preferably formed from absorbent paper.By holding one'of the strips 18 with the thumb and fingers of one hand,as seen in Fig. 6, pressing the rod'lO against one flatside of the stripwith the finger 14 toward sai strip, and moving the rod outwardly aslndicated by the arrows of said View, one

e dgeof the strip maybe made to slide across. the beveled end 16 of thefinger 14, so'that vsaidstrip will come to rest against theexposedtriangular portion l'r' of the-fi'nger'13.

Then.- by inwardly moving the rod '10, an

edgeportion of the strip 18 is positioned in the split 12 as seen inFig. 5. The. strip and rod are then held between the thumb'and a fingerof onehand and the rodis rotated in'eitherdirection with? the otherhand,as will beclear from F 7. This operation winds the strip 18on, the rod10 and forms an effective pip'e'stem cleaner having a swab 19 at itsfront end. By means of the rod 10, this cleaner may be forced into apipestem. Then, the rod 10 may be withdrawn, leaving the strip cleaner inthe stem, and by then re-inserting said rod, its blunt front 7 end willfirst longitudinally compress the strip into a wad and will then forcesuch I wad entirely through the stem, effectivelycleaning the latter. ji I If the deviceis to be used for cleaning a pipe which has not beenused for some time, so that the accumulation in the stem is hard anddry, the rod-10 maybe used first, without thestrip 18, to scrapetheaccumulated matter from the wall of the smoke passage,

and then said rod may be used with the Figure 8 1s a perspective viewshowing stripv 18 to effect the final cleaning opera: tion. When the rodis used without the strip '18, the edges at the front ends of thefingers 13 and 14 form scrapers, and the bevel 16,

by engagement with the accumulated matter in the stem tends to laterallyforce the rod,

sage, so that itwill-perform effective scraping. Thus, by reciprocatingthe rod in the stem and slowly turning it, all accumulated matter may bereadily loosened from the wall of "the smoke passage, preparatory to thefinal cleaning operation performed by the cleaning strip 18, properlymanipulated by means of the rod;

Preferably, in manufacturing the strips 18, I take a stack of papersheets and cut them on non-parallel lines 20 (Fig. 8) for'ming stacks orbooks of strips/18, each strip having a wide end and a narrow end, theformer being the one which is inserted into the split 12 and forms theswab-19 of adequate size. The strips -18 of the stacksflor books may beglued together at one end of It will be seen from the foregoing thatapipe cleaning equipment of novel form has 1 been devised for attainingthe desired results, and on account of the advantages existing for thedetails disclosed, they are preferably followed. However, within thescope of the invention as claimed, modifications may be made.

I claim 1- 1. Pipe cleaning means comprising a rod having a split whichis parallel with the length of the rod and opens through the front endof said rod, and a longitudinally tapered flexible cleaning stripco-operable with said rod in forming a cleaner; the relatively wide endof said strip being adapted for partial reception in said split, wherebyrotation of the rod while holding the strip, will form a swab from saidwide strip end and will wind the remainder of the strip around the rod.

2. In a pipe cleaning means, a rod having a split which opens throughits front end to provide two parallel longitudinal fingers,

HOWARD M. MURPHY

